Ports of Call!

The cadets and crew are looking forward to tying up in three tropical ports. These will include Vera Cruz, Mexico; Bridgetown, Barbados; and San Juan, Puerto Rico respectfully. Each port will include many historical and beautiful sites to see, people to meet, and fun times to be had.

Vera Cruz, Mexico is a port city in the central part of Mexico. It is the oldest and largest port in Mexico. The port includes excellent beaches with calm water ideal for tourists to enjoy scuba diving, snorkeling, and other aquatic sports. One of the sites to see in Vera Cruz will be Fort San Juan de Ulua. The fort was used in 1582 to protect the port from pirates. During the 19th the fort was converted to a military prison.

Bridgetown is the largest city and the capital of the island of Barbados. The English first landed their in 1628. Barbados soon became the most important possession of the British in the New World due to its easterly position in the Caribbean. A very historical site to visit will be the National Heroes Square. There is a statue in the square that was built in 1813 to commemorate Admiral Lord Nelson and the British Royal Navy's victory in the Battle of Trafalgar.

San Juan is the capital city of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is one of the United States territories in the Caribbean. Founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, it was originally named "Ciudad de Puerto Rico" which translates as Rich Port City. There are sixteen colleges on the island of Puerto Rico ranging from Universities to Technical Schools.

You may send mail to any of the cadets in every port. Remember that mail must be sent at least ten days prior to the intended arrival of the ship in the port. Also no packages will be accepted by the ship. Addresses for the ports may be found under the Letter from the Admiral link under mailing instructions.

Yesterdays answers can be found under this link: ANSWERS!!

Today's Questions:

1) What is the latitude and longitude of Vera Cruz, Mexico.

2) How many nautical miles away from the equator is Vera Cruz, based off of the latitude from question 1? (Hints: 1 nautical mile = 1 minute of latitude, and 60 minutes of latitude = 1 degree of latitude)

3) When was the Battle of Trafalgar and who was involved?

4) What is the difference between the time zones in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Vera Cruz, Mexico?

-1/c Nicholas Lauria and 3/c Joshua Lamm

FTV Coordinators

Nicholas.lauria@maritime.edu

joshua.lamm@maritime.edu